Rico looked at the ever-changing expressions on Hesta's face, and finally understood Turan's original advice - taking good care of Hesta not only means protecting her from others, but also sometimes paying attention to prevent her from doing things. Some self-harm, which is very possible.
But what to do, tie her up with a rope temporarily?
It's not difficult to operate, but...
Rico looked into Hesta's blue eyes, and she didn't want to think about that scene.
"...Jian." Li Ge called again.
Hesta covered her face with her hands and fell on the bed again, her shoulders shaking slightly.
There was finally some movement outside the door. Li Ge heard Chiba's footsteps. She looked at the door with relief - Chiba pushed the door open and entered.
"You are finally back..." As soon as Li Ge opened her mouth, she felt that what she said was not very appropriate - as if she had endured Hesta for a long time. She glanced at Hesta cautiously. Fortunately, Jane no response.
Chiba asked in a low voice: "Thank you for your hard work...did I catch up?"
Rico looked at his watch again, "It's almost, I have to lie down for seven hours tonight."
"It's okay, you haven't had a good sleep since you got on the ship."
"It's really strange. I was fine this afternoon and took my medicine on time. Why is it suddenly like this..."
"The disease will recur, the doctor has said it a long time ago," Chiba whispered, "Family members must be mentally prepared."
Li Ge sighed with some distress, and suddenly remembered something, "...By the way, how is Zero?"
Chiba didn't speak, just shrugged.
"Really? After all, she was so seriously injured..." Li Ge murmured, her eyes lowered and her expression solemn, "...It's all my fault. I was so careless that I didn't realize there was someone else on the stage. Others, I should have discovered earlier——"
"A person's attention is always limited, don't think too much." Chiba patted Rico on the shoulder, "Go and rest."
Rico turned back again and looked at his depressed friend.
"Then I'll leave it to you. I'll come back tomorrow morning."
Chiba waved his hand.
…
Late at night, in her sleep, Hesta dreamed of the firebird again.
It flapped its wings and hovered on the cone of the pine tree, and the flames and wind and snow fell together.
Every once in a while, there will be several strange vibrations in this vast wilderness - it is the sound of melting ice and snow in early spring, and the ice in the distance is breaking. It echoes for a long time, like the neighing of a group of whales.
The woman under the ice was still sleeping, Hesta stood between her brows, and the biting cold eroded upwards from the soles of her feet.
Hesta leaned over and knelt on the ice. She wiped the remaining snow on the lake with the remaining warmth of her palms, revealing the smooth and mirror-like ice underneath.
Through the glassy lake surface, Hestad finally saw the woman's sleeping eyes, her closed eyelids, and frozen eyelashes... This huge face was strange yet familiar to Hestad. She stared at her feet with some doubts. He took two steps back and tried to observe from a wider perspective.
Suddenly, this huge eye opened at the feet of Hesta. In fear, Hesta fell to the ground in panic.
She looked at the light blue pupil - the woman under the ice was also looking at her.
The firebird overhead let out a sharp long hiss, and the flames under its wings suddenly surged, flooding the entire glacier. At this moment, the entire scene began to tear apart——
Hesta opened her eyes suddenly and breathed hard.
She felt that she was covered in sweat, and the cold clothes stuck to her skin, making her shiver. Hesta turned over and sat up, looking around.
There was no one around, just the silent night.
"Li Ge..." she shouted in a low voice, "Si Lei?"
No one responded.
Hesta got out of bed and looked carefully at the furnishings - this was not her room.
The memory in her mind was intermittent. She couldn't remember why she appeared here and who brought her here. The last scene in her memory was sitting with Qianye at Bishop's Restaurant for breakfast. Why did it happen that the sky was like this now? blacken……
Eat breakfast……
Hesta tried to remember.
After breakfast... I seemed to have visited a museum...
museum……
Those display racks displaying countless bones came to Hesta's mind. She recalled the deep corridor at the bottom of the ship and the rows of bookshelves filled with books...
At the end of it all, someone is resting in a wheelchair.
At this moment, all the memories suddenly awakened - the dead bodies in the darkness of the theater, the wounds, the deafening gunshots, the flying bullets, the flashing faces of Agnes and Meyer, and, slowly in the light Zero leaning back...
"Anna."
Anna's face appeared clearly in Hesta's mind.
Hesta closed her eyes and stood silently in the darkness.
The next moment, she opened her eyes halfway and walked out of the room quietly.
…
In the luggage compartment at the bottom of the ship, Anna was sleeping lightly in the study with the cat in her arms. Suddenly, the white cat in her arms arched her back, and began to step on Anna's belly with its two paws.
Anna wakes up.
She gently stroked the cat's chin and lifted it from her lap to the ground.
The electric wheelchair slowly drove to the table in the darkness. She took out a box of matches from her pocket, and with a "prick" sound, the fire lit up the world.
An ancient candlestick at the corner of the table once again glowed with new light, and this warm flame also reflected the silhouette of Hesta behind her.
The firelight danced, casting a huge shadow behind Hesta.
"You strike a match, and its flame dazzles you," Anna whispered softly, "so in the dark, you can't find what you're looking for. The match burns out between your fingers, and the pain... makes you forget you. What you are looking for.”(1)
She stared at the flame, and when it was about to burn her fingertips, Anna let go of her hand, and the matchstick turned into black embers and fell on the silver plate, breaking into several pieces with a slight sound.
"Where is Zero?" Hesta's voice seemed to come from the bottom of the abyss, hoarse and terrifying.
"She's dead," Anna whispered. "She fell in your arms—"
A dagger glowed coldly in Hestad's hand, which was exactly what Anna had shown to Hestad in the morning.
"That is to say, no matter what I do now, no one will jump out to stop me."
"Look," Anna laughed, "when you came to me this morning, you were still unable to move and needed help from others to even turn the book. But now, you can already pass through the layers of barriers and sneak into my study alone... Your hands are no longer shaking, Jane."
Hesta raised her chin slightly, "You expected that I would come to you tonight?"
Anna didn't look back, she just raised her finger and pointed to another chair nearby, "...Why don't you sit down, the night is long, we can have a good chat."
——
(1) Henrik Nordbrand’s poem, “A Life”
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